BARCELONA - A new Spanish documentary claims Argentina hired a leftist guerrilla to blow up a British warship in 1982 during the war over the Falkland Islands.

Filmmaker Jesus Mora features former Spanish Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo and the chief of the Argentine navy at the time, Admiral Jorge Anaya, detailing how the ship was to be targeted at Gibraltar, the launch site for the British navy's operations during the war.

The film says guerrilla Maximo Nicoletti was arrested for a mine attack on an Argentine destroyer in 1975, and rather than face torture, he agreed to work with the military.

He and two other Argentine spies traveled to Spain on April 11, 1982, with false passports, and began monitoring British naval vessels and advising Buenos Aires, The Independent reported.

An attack was authorized for May 31, but the day before, the men were mistakenly arrested by police looking for three Argentine bank robbers, the film concludes.